


time was what we needed (and the one thing we couldn't have)

by jojomustlive



Series: about love [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Falling In Love, Hopeful Ending, Reggie-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), a backstory for reggie!, bittersweet love story about a boy and a girl, carolynn is absolutely inspired by jeremy's wifey, the story is kinda angsty ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojomustlive/pseuds/jojomustlive
Summary: Reggie and Carolynn had all the time in the world to figure things out.Until they didn't.OrA bittersweet love story about a boy, a girl, moving on and the importance of letting go.
Relationships: Flynn/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: about love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000470
Comments: 16
Kudos: 68





	1. 1995

**Author's Note:**

> this is a prequel to (let's not make the) same mistakes, though they can be read out of order.
> 
> enjoy!

It started out as her showing up to three Sunset Curve gigs in a row.

And like Ian Fleming once said, once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three times… three times was enough to have Reggie intrigued. She was always front and center in the crowd, eyes always on him, even when Luke wore his most revealing cut-offs that had Reggie himself struggling to focus.

He could never find her afterwards, though, not in the clubs themselves, not at the back where most fans stayed in hopes of talking to them. She would be there when he and the boys took a final bow, but no matter how quickly he managed to change out of his sweaty clothes backstage, she’d always be gone by the time he went out looking.

“Maybe she’s just busy.” Alex had offered as an explanation once.

“Or just not actually interested.” Bobby retorted, a hint of true bite in his words that was very typical. Bobby Wilson had a tendency to not realize the weight of his own actions, though Luke was usually right around the corner to give some painful reminders.

“If it was you, maybe, asshole.” the shorter member shot back, giving Bobby a wet willy for good measure. “She’s probably just shy. Give it some time, Romeo.”

And giving it time he tried. On the seventh time his gaze met the same striking blue eyes that watched him from the crowd, though, his curiosity got the best of him. He wasted no time, heading down from the stage as soon as they were done with their set, leaving a trio of slightly confused friends behind.

He ignored the self-conscious side of him that kept screaming he shouldn’t be doing this when he could feel a literal pool of sweat on his back from the strong stage lights and all the jumping around that performing entailed. He had an inkling no amount of Axe Mirage could save him from smelling like garbage at that moment.

Standing in front of her amidst the chaos that was an LA nightclub on a Saturday night, Reggie pushed everything else aside and gave his best attempt at a confident smile. “Hey there,” he said, tone flirtatious.

The laughter that erupted from her certainly wasn’t the reaction he expected. “Hey there,” she mirrored him amusedly, “Ah, I needed that.” she composed herself then, shooting her hand forward so he could shake it. “Hi, I’m Carolynn. You’re Reggie, right?”

He tried his best to hide the confusion her behavior was causing, opting instead for the safest approach. “Yeah and we’re Sunset-”

“- Curve - tell your friends. Yeah, I know. I’ve been watching you guys for a while.”

He smiled at that. “I noticed.”

“Good, I was hoping you would.” She replied, which somehow still took him by surprise. It was one thing to hope, something else entirely to hear her say it.

“It was quite hard to find you, though. You’d always disappear.” He frowned slightly at the frustrating memories.

“Well, what would the fun be if there wasn’t a little mystery?” She smiled mischievously then, and he noticed what a truly beautiful smile the girl had.

“Still got more mysteries for me, then?” He asked, daringly.

“Well, that depends. Do you have any plans after this?”

And so it began.

Reggie liked to think of himself as a free spirit, but Carolynn… Carolynn had wings that he swore he could see whenever she would dance around whichever place she had decided it was theirs to explore that time. There wasn’t a nook in LA small enough that Carolynn Ilman couldn’t find a way to fit through. And make Reggie fit, too.

Her laugh quickly became his favorite sound - the way it echoed around the empty halls of every art gallery they visited and how it filled his ears the same way the strong scent of coffee of each café they discovered filled his lungs. It was the best harmony he could never hope to reproduce.

Instead, he wrote song after song trying to even come close.

 _Home Is Where My Horse Is_ , because she had been a horse girl as a kid, and still was at heart. _Ballerina_ felt pretty self-explanatory, even if his first draft of lyrics were all too revealing.

_Blue-eyed ballerina_

_God only knows how much I need ya_

_From day one I knew you were the one_

_Give me your hand and I'll give you mine_

_You're the reason I look forward to coming home at night_

Yeah, he ended up showing her only the instrumental version of that one.

He would watch her move around for hours and hours on end at her studio, observing with wonder the way she would interact with each and every student, be it a little kid or adults older than either of them could even imagine themselves ever being. He’d watch how she moved with such grace even when she thought no one was watching, wondering if them dancing around each other looked anything like that.

They would never talk about it, not really. The lingering touches, the stolen stares that felt like they meant too much to not mean anything at all. The almost-kisses. Or the sheer amount of them he could recall from the top of his head.

But that was okay, they had time. They had all the time in the world to figure it out - he was seventeen and Sunset Curve was just starting to take off. She was barely 19, still figuring out her place in the world, how she would go about following her passion for dance and for the stage. Reggie was sure the time for them would come eventually.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” he asked her the night before the biggest gig of his life - an opening at the Orpheum. _The Orpheum!_ He had been buzzing with energy the entire night, much to Carolynn’s amusement. 

He’d been the one to spin her round and round with a grin so wide he felt his cheeks might burst, music blasting from the old van the band used to carry around their equipment but was now being used as a stereo and occasional sitting spot to watch the marvelous view the pier they were at offered as the moonlight bathed Los Angeles below them.

All too soon, though, they had to return to the real world. They stood at her porch, bodies much closer than it could be considered necessary by anyone, though that had become pretty standard for them.

“How could I miss the biggest moment in my rockstar’s career?” Ignoring the way his heart swelled by being called _hers_ , he hugged her tightly, not in any particular rush to let go.

She was the one to loosen her grip, though she didn’t let go completely. She looked up at him, her warm breath hitting him as their faces were only inches apart. “Goodnight, Reg.” She told him softly, hands still resting on his shoulders.

In the low light, the deep blue of her eyes looked stormy. It was fitting, he supposed, considering that was very much the way she came into his life - she came in strong, and couldn’t be ignored once she was there. Carolynn Ilman forever changed him, and, oh, how he loved her for it.

He glanced down from her eyes to her lips, head tilting forward ever so slightly almost against his will. He noticed her eyes glancing down, too, but her arms started sliding down from his shoulders.

“Goodnight, Reg.” she repeated, and if her cheeks seemed redder than before, neither of them said anything of it. He watched as she opened her door quietly, thinking that was it for the night. He should’ve known things never went quite how he expected them to when Carolynn was involved, though. He felt her lips on the corner of his mouth, and before he could process it, she had already stepped inside and closed the door on him.

He smiled despite himself, wondering when they’d find the courage to take the plunge for good.

It was okay, though, they had time.


	2. 2020

It took him a few weeks to gather the courage to go and find her. 

Facebook, turns out, was not a digital yearbook like he had first imagined, but a searching tool that made it eerily easy to find anyone in the world with very little information to go off of.

Though he knew, objectively, that she wouldn’t be able to see him no matter what, he still ducked when she faced his way from where she stood in her front garden. He watched as she tended to each flower in the yard with grace, not caring as dirt and grass stained her light blue overalls.

Looking at her, it was like no time had passed at all. Save a few hairs too light to pass off as blonde, Care looked just like she did when he last saw her. The same stormy blue eyes giving him ghostbumps, same freckles that kissed her face all around, a couple more laugh marks that showed a life happily lived. The same voice that haunted his every dream, too, and even the melody she hummed felt all too familiar.

“ _ What's the point of sleep if it's not with you _

_ Your lipstick on my cheek looking like a tattoo _

_ My ballerina swinging side to side _

_ All I need is a little love and care tonight _ ”

He should’ve known she would find the lyrics somehow. Nothing ever got past her. If anything, he was glad she knew what he wanted, even if they never got to have it.

He supposed he ought to feel at least a little jealous when he saw her husband pulling over and greeting her with a warm smile and a kiss, but he couldn’t find it in him to resent them. Seeing her happy… that was all he needed to feel at peace.

He stood up, ready to leave. Carolynn looked his way with a smile, then, almost as if she could sense him there. He shot a smile back, though he knew it was mostly for himself.

He poofed back to the studio, grinning as he found Flynn sitting on Luke’s couch, scrolling mindlessly through her phone. He picked up his bass and started playing softly without a second thought, holding back his laughter as she screamed when he appeared sitting right beside her.

“You gotta stop doing that!” she exclaimed, exasperated.

“Well hello to you too, Flynn! Come on, you were waiting for me anyway.” he said cheekily, to which Flynn just rolled her eyes.

“Alright, country boy. So, you’ll never believe what happened today…”

Reggie just smiled contently as he rested his head on the sofa, letting Flynn’s voice take over his thoughts as she told him about her latest shenanigans. He’d tell her about his own adventure soon, too, but he was in no rush - he knew they had time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! hope i didn't make anyone too sad, as there's hope on the horizon! :)


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